*Press Samples* Today I have the September Duo from Bad Bitch Polishes. For this month BBP has two gorgeous blue holo polishes, with slightly different finishes. Live swatch video is below, so you can see how great and easy they are to use, and photos after that.

Live Swatches

Swatches and Review

Blue Moon - described as a deep dark blue linear holo.

Swatches are 1 coat with *no* top coat. Application was a breeze, super easy and perfectly opaque. Not too thick or thin, doesn't run, stays exactly where you put it. I mean, Britt from Bad Bitch Polish has been doing this for a while and her formula is pretty much perfect. I did have slight staining on my skin from clean up and removal but not on my nails, but that is to be expected with very saturated blues. My recommendation, use a good base coat and some type of liquid latex around your cuticles to make it easier.

Blue My Mind - described as a sapphire blue jelly with holo glitters and a slight linear holo effect.

Swatches are 2 coats with 1 coat of Pretty and Polished Swift Sparkle top coat. I would describe the holo in this as more scattered, or at the very least more sparse. It does look a bit linear but it's no where as strong a Blue Moon. My lights to capture the holo better kinda obscured the glitters a bit but this polish is a gorgeous squishy blue jelly while at the same time being nicely pigmented that you only need 2 coats. You can check the video above for an accurate view at how it applies and looks. It's also easy to work with and while it does dry to a shiny finish, I added top coat to smooth it out some more. There are no glitters sticking out or anything like that but I did have some staining just like with Blue Moon.

If you like these and want to get your hands on them, they will be available September 1st at www.badbitchpolish.com. They will be $10 each or $19 for the duo. Make sure you're following BBP on Instagram, Facebook, and join the FB fan group for all the latest info and swatches!

I received these as press samples in exchange for photos and an honest review.

Today's post is about the Ipsy bag I got for July 2017. I know...I'm super late with this, I'm a busy woman ok? I actually got the August bag yesterday, so I hope to have that up soon. The products I received in my bag for July where TreStiQue mini concealer, 2 masks from TONYMOLY (I'm not sure I wrote that right), Ciate London Gel-Khol Hybrid liner, Hempz Ultra Moisturizing Herbal Lip Balm, and the Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay Waterproof Bronzer. I haven't tested out the masks yet cause of something that happened to my face which I'm not sure you guys even want to know about...cause it was disgusting and disturbing...but uhh..don't pop your pimples ok? They can get a nasty staph infection...let's leave it a that. But I did try the other products as soon as they arrived and I have pics and my thoughts below!

The bag

While this was one of the nicest bags I've gotten, in terms of construction and feel of the material, I am not a fan. I didn't find it cute. I know I'm in the minority, oh well.

TreStiQue Mini Concealer

I got the TreStiQue mini concealer in Bisque and I actually liked it a lot. It did cover up my awful purply undereyes (thanks genetics and allergies!). It didn't look like super amazing but the result was natural looking and I actually resembled someone who is nicely rested and healthy instead of the chronic health mess I am sometimes.Ciate London Wonderwand Gel-Khol Hybrid Liner

In regards to the Ciate London Wonderwand Gel-Khol Liner in black I have mixed feelings. On one hand, it's a great product and I loved the brush at the opposite end. The formula applied nice and creamy, and the brush really helped to get that small perfect little kitty-eye wing style that I like. However, it wasn't black enough! It looked grayish, almost a green-gray on my skintone. I need a deep inky black!

Hempz Ultra Moisturizing Herbal Lip Balm

I loved this product! It was amazing. I know it can be hard to tell in the before and after pics above but trust me, my lips felt so much better and smoother. It has a nice citrusy taste as well. I will definitely be back for more of this.

Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay Waterproof Bronzer

I love the Tart eyeshadow palette I own (Tartiest Pro or something like that, yeah I know..shame on me, bad blogger.). But I was a bit disappointed with this. Maybe the color just doesn't work for my skin tone? It's too reddish I think.

It looks great outdoors and using my phone's selfie camera but indoors my whole face looked like super crazy orange tan. I applied it like they did in the little video in the Ipsy website, contour, temples, jawline. I think it's just too much for someone who's already tanned. I've been using it sparingly, like blush, when I just want a simple makeup look, and it looks a bit better that way. I'm just not convinced about the color.

So that's it for the June Ipsy Glam Bag! Let me know what you thought? If you subscribe to Ipsy, did you love the products you got? Hated them? Leave a comment below!

Today's post is about one of my favorite fandoms, Harry Potter, using products from Moonflower Polish, MoYou London, and Lantern & Wren! I've been re-reading the books this past few months and when the fandom theme came up in the All About That Stamp group on Facebook, I decided that Hufflepuff nails was the way to go. When I 1st read the series, I thought for sure I would be a Ravenclaw, since I was all about creativity and intelligence. But now in my 30s, I realize my most defining traits are probably kindness and gentleness, so Hufflepuff it is. I also sorta feel it's a house no one wants to belong to, like they are the lame kids, the shy kids, just sitting alone all socially awkward...that's me too.

So after thinking about it for days, I decided the easiest thing to do would be to a plaid scarf pattern in the house colors of black and yellow, with a bit of gray. I started with a base of Moonflower Polish Amarillo, pictured above in 2 coats with top coat. Now, it is a stamping polish so it's thicker than regular polish and it *will* stain your nails, so if you do use it as regular polish, proceed with caution.

For the stamping, I used MoYou London's Hipster 06 plate, with Moonflower Polish Gris and Noche, and the Big Blue Stamper from Lantern & Wren. To be honest, I'm not in love with the final look. I should have stopped with the gray and then black but I thought they where missing something and went back with the black a 3rd time, for a triple stamped look. I think it ended up looking messy afterwards but there was no going back. I need to remember my own mantra of "keep it simple" and "less is more".

In today's post, I'm going to show you how I do my current unicorn/galaxy/peacock inspired hair. It's actually really easy as long as you're already familiar with dyeing your own hair. For this look, I used products from Ion Color Brilliance and Arctic Fox hair color that I purchased myself.

You need to start with very light blonde hair, as pale as you can get it. Otherwise the purple won't be that will visible and will fade faster. I wanted a sorta violet shade so I mixed equal parts of Ion Color Brilliance Brights hair dye from Sallys in the colors Magenta and Purple. I used an empty tub and also added some conditioner, to dilute the color and make it easier to apply. The Ion hair dye tends to be more of a paste and adding conditioner makes it smoother. For the blue (not pictured cause I forgot), I mixed Arctic Fox Aquamarine and Poseidon (which I reviewed here).

Awkard angles with a double chin...yeah. I mean, I'm 33 and I have 2 kids, there's some curves everywhere, plus I've always had a short neck and rounded cheeks, even when I was 100lbs and 18. Anyway, you're going to want to divide your hair mainly into two sections, the top is purple and the bottom blue. It helps if you're hair is cut into layers, otherwise you might not see the different colors that well. I did 6 sections to help me color the front.

Leave that in for an hour or so, wash it off in cold water, make sure you follow up with a deep conditioning treatment, style and ta-da! Unicorn, galaxy, whatever hair!

I think the whole process took about 2 hours and cost me way less than a trip to the salon. Plus I can touch it up as needed since I have plenty of dye left over. Since I originally did this in June, I can now tell you that it lasted about 2 weeks before the purple faded to a light reddish-violet. The blue lasts longer and that faded to a silvery blue in about 4 weeks, at which point I redid the whole thing. This time around, I didn't get any Overtone conditioners to match the purple/violet because I'd have to buy a free different tubs to match the color and that's more than I can spend right now. It's more cost effective for me to mix up the dye with some of my own conditioner and re-do the color that way. It's not as good as Overtone, but it works. And next time, I'll show you how I do that.

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About

I'm Nadia, a Puerto Rican mom of 2 kids who relocated to Florida and loves her nail polish. I'm a sci-fi and book nerd with an art degree, a husband, and a dog. A love of nail polish helped me overcome a nail biting habit of 22 years. I write about nail polish, nail art, beauty and cosmetics, with a little bit of lifestyle blogging. Contact me at nadia.l.velez@gmail.com.